


Something Just Like This

by clizziem



Series: Don't Smile at Me [10]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Badass Suki (Avatar), Child Abuse, Depression, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Protective Azula (Avatar), Skater Aang is the hill I will die on, Suicidal Thoughts, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28580517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clizziem/pseuds/clizziem
Summary: you wanna come to a park with my friends and i?Zuko stares at the message for probably way longer than normal. His fingers shake over the keyboard and he bites his lip. He glances around his room for some reason and types a quickWhat time?He stands up and groans under his breath. His abdomen aches from Ozai’s kicks and punches from a little under an hour ago. He limps towards his dresser and pulls out the pair of pants that has the least amount of holes and tries to pull them on over his boxers. At one point he tugs too hard and yelps out in pain and falls down to his knees. His vision swims but he can see his phone light up.Zuko beginning to bond with the Gaang
Relationships: Azula & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Don't Smile at Me [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2079291
Comments: 11
Kudos: 323





	Something Just Like This

**Author's Note:**

> I got a little carried away with this one. TW for child abuse and suicidal ideation but nothing is super graphic.  
> Thanks y'all so much for your suggestions on the last piece by the way!  
> Enjoy!!

_ you wanna come to a park with my friends and me? _

Zuko stares at the message for probably way longer than normal. His fingers shake over the keyboard and he bites his lip. He glances around his room for some reason and types a quick

_ What time? _

He stands up and groans under his breath. His abdomen aches from Ozai’s kicks and punches from a little under an hour ago. He limps towards his dresser and pulls out the pair of pants that has the least amount of holes and tries to pull them on over his boxers. At one point he tugs too hard and yelps out in pain and falls down to his knees. His vision swims but he can see his phone light up.

_ I can pick you up in like ten minutes _

Zuko hears his own labored breathing echoing in his ear and he reaches for his phone.

_ No. I’ll meet you there. Send me your location? _

He takes a deep breath, pulls his pants on and buttons them, and straightens his back. The motion brings tears to his eyes and he zips up his hoodie. He limps out of his room and down the stairs to the back door.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Ozai’s voice demands. Zuko flinches and ducks his head. He’s managed to get one of his sneakers on and he’s already seeing double with pain.

“My...My his-history partner wants to...to meet up,” he says.

“Did you not already work on that project yesterday?” Ozai snaps.

“It’s...a big project,” Zuko says. “And...And we just figured out we’re missing something.”

Ozai scoffs. “Be back by six.”

“Yes, sir,” Zuko says softly. 

“I pity the poor soul who got stuck with you for a school project,” Ozai mutters and walks away. Zuko exhales and gets his other shoe on. His phone pings and he enters Sokka’s location into Google Maps. Zuko tries to push the pain away but eventually, he gets used to it.

Zuko’s still limping when he reaches Sokka and his group.

“Hey! You found us!” Sokka says and bounds over to him. “Are you okay? You’re limping?”

“I’m fine,” Zuko lies with ease. He hates how long he’s been telling people he’s fine when he wants nothing more than to disappear or scream.

“Okay,” Sokka says slowly. “Well, come sit down on the table with us. Aang, Suki, and I are gonna skate a bit but you can meet the others!”

Others.

Right.

He’s met Sokka’s younger sister a couple of times, but he now remembers Sokka has a little crowd of friends.

He forgets a lot in the pain.

Zuko’s watched that little group grow for years. First, it was just Sokka and Katara. Then Suki came along. Then Toph. Then Aang. He remembers wishing he could be the next lost soul the group adopted but he never was.

He probably never will be, either.

Sokka stops at a green table and spreads his arm out. “Okay everyone, this is Zuko. Zuko, this is Aang, Katara, Suki, and Toph.”

Zuko waves and mumbles a greeting and then cringes at himself.

“Hi, Zuko!” Aang says and kicks a skateboard into his arms. “Nice to meet you!” He adds loudly and then zooms off on his board. Sokka gently sets him down and takes a board out.

“We won’t be long, then we can take a walk or fuck around on the playground. Ready, Suki?”

Suki takes another board out from under the table. “Ready to show you up? Absolutely.”

“I don’t know,” Toph says with a wave of her hand. “Way I see it, Sokka’s got you beat.”

Katara snorts into her hand and Zuko hides a smile by ducking his head. Sokka, however, does not get the joke.

“Thank you, you know I practiced really hard to-” He stops and glares at the small, clearly blind girl. “Why do you feel the need to do that?”

Toph giggles and pokes Sokka with her cane. “I’ll keep making them until you stop falling for them, dumbass!”

Sokka grumbles something and then skates off.

Zuko tries not to think about how his too-small jeans seem to fit a little tighter when Sokka starts skating.

“So, Zuko,” Toph begins. “How’s your project coming along?”

_ They don’t even know how to talk to you, _ his dad’s voice hisses in his head.  _ Just spare them the agony of getting to know you and run _ .

“Um, it’s fine. It’s...a lot,” he says stupidly. Toph suddenly reaches out and gives him a hearty punch on the shoulder.

He hasn’t been bruised there for ages but it still causes a flash of memories to take up his vision for a moment. “What...What was that for?” He asks.

“You seemed nervous,” Toph says. It takes Zuko a second to get his breathing back under his control.

He doesn’t want to say that now he’s more nervous, maybe afraid now.

Katara snickers a little and then gets up, leaving him with Toph.

“You have a sister in Katara’s grade, right?” Toph asks. Zuko nods but then feels stupid.

_ She’s blind, you absolute moron. _

“Um, yeah. Azula.”

“Ah, right.”

Zuko cringes. He shouldn’t have come.

“What are the skaters doing?” Toph asks. Zuko lifts his head and squints against the sun. It’s hard to see since everyone’s apparently in his “blind” spot.

“Um, I can’t...can’t tell. Everything on my left is blurry,” he says. Toph suddenly sits straight up.

“Are you blind or something, too?’

“K-Kind of,” Zuko says. “I...I have an injury. On my left eye and ear. That...That makes it hard to see and I’m deaf in that ear.”

“Ayyy, visually impaired gang!” Toph cheers and holds a hand out. Zuko flinches back for a second but realizes he hasn’t been hit and Toph is waiting for a high five. He reaches out and delicately slaps her hand. Toph laughs. “Come on, you can do better than that!” She holds her hand a little closer to his face. He chuckles a little and hits her hand. A loud clap resounds in the afternoon air and he flinches again. His cheeks and neck flare up in phantom pain but Toph giggles.

“Hell yeah, Zuko!” She says. Zuko smiles at the ground and lets himself laugh.

He and Toph complain about being blind for a while. They have different experiences, Toph being blind since birth and Zuko losing only about a quarter of his sight at thirteen. He likes her. It’s nice to talk to someone who can’t see him and be wary of him because of how he looks. Toph asks what being half deaf is like and Zuko tries to describe it by covering one of her ears.

The conversation comes to a halt when she asks how he got hurt badly enough to damage his senses. Zuko stammers for a while but gets saved by the rest of the group coming back from skating around. Aang has a tiny abrasion on his chin but he’s still grinning.

“You guys wanna go for a walk?” He asks.

“Isn’t Zuko hurt?” Suki asks. Zuko shakes his and hugs his abdomen delicately.

“I’m fine. We can walk if you want to,” he says. Katara frowns slightly at him like she’s trying to put together a puzzle.

“No, it’s okay,” Sokka says. “We can just hang out here for a while.”

“I have a visually impaired friend now!” Toph announces and wraps an arm around Zuko’s neck.

“Toph,” Katara scolds.

“It’s okay,” Zuko says with a little laugh. “It’s not like she’s wrong.”

Sokka laughs and Zuko’s heart does a little flutter. He’s a little disheveled from the wind rushing through his hair and he’s a tiny bit sweaty. Some thought about him looking like that while leaning over Zuko crosses his mind and Zuko shakes his head to banish it.

He suddenly wishes he had the foresight to grab his pack of cigarettes before he left. He needs to calm down.

Then, “Wait. What time is it?” Zuko asks. Katara digs for her phone in her pocket and turns it on.

“Uh, it’s five-forty-five,” she says. Zuko’s heart falls into his stomach and he trembles to his feet.

“I-I have to go,” he says and starts backing away from the table.

“Are you okay?” Toph asks. Zuko nods too many times and bites his tongue against the pain flaring in his ribs.

“I’m supposed to-to be home...at six,” he says and itches to run.

“Do you need a ride?” Sokka asks.

“No!” Zuko snaps without meaning to. He can’t let Sokka anywhere near his house. He can’t let anyone see anything that might make Ozai look suspicious.

Not that Zuko’s not being suspicious right now.

“No! I have to walk,” he says and digs his hands into his pockets. “See you tomorrow, Sokka!”

He waits until the group is turned around to bolt away from the park.

Ozai’s standing directly behind the back door when Zuko comes back in. He lets out an involuntary whimper of fear when Ozai glances at the clock on the stove.

“Do you see what time it is?” He asks. Zuko doesn’t dare breathe. Or move.

Ozai’s hand shoots out and grabs Zuko’s hood. He drags him over to the stove and pushes him towards it. Zuko screams, his face feels hot again and grips the sides of the stove top.

“I said,” Ozai says calmly. “Do you see what time it is?”

Zuko looks up and stares at the green display of six-fifteen. “I...I’m sorry.”

“I distinctly remember telling you to be back by six,” Ozai says, taking a step closer.

“We...We got. We lost track of time,” Zuko starts shaking and he isn’t sure how much longer his legs can keep him upright. His heart pounds so loudly he can feel it in his functional ear.

“And you didn’t think to tell me you might be running late?”

“I-” Zuko stammers and Ozai comes up flush behind him. His father’s breath is hot and heavy on his neck and a tear falls out of Zuko’s eye. Ozai reaches out and he turns on the stovetop. Zuko screams again and launches himself away from his father and the stove. “No!”

“Get it together you fucking disgrace,” Ozai shouts and grabs Zuko’s shirt, and slams him into the wall. Zuko starts sobbing and his hands come up to grasp weakly at his father’s wrist.

“Not...Not again, please!” Zuko begs. Ozai fumes for a second before his fist collides with Zuko’s jaw. His head hits the wall again and his brain rattles in his skull for a moment.

“Shut up,” Ozai snaps. Zuko sniffs and tries to swallow his sobs. “Get upstairs and I better not see you before tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, sir,” Zuko says and Ozai lets him go. As soon as Ozai’s fingers are back at his side, Zuko bolts to the stairs.

“Zu-Zu?” Azula’s voice asks but he doesn’t respond. He just shuts his bedroom door and stumbles into the far corner near his bed. He pulls his knees up to his chest and buries his face into his knees. He lets himself sob and then hears his door open quietly. The door clicks shut and someone strides across the room.

“Zuko?” Azula. He looks up but doesn’t face his sister. “What happened?”

His lip trembles and another painful sob rips its way out of his body. “I just wanted to be his friend,” he whispers.

“Whose friend?” Azula asks.

“Sokka’s!” Zuko sobs loudly. “I just wanted to be his friend.”

Azula rubs his arm and stays quiet.

“I can’t be anything, Zula! I can’t!” He shouts and kicks at his wall. He’s not entirely sure what he means. Maybe that he can’t be normal. He can’t exist without someone or something scaring him. “I just...I just want to be their friend,” he repeats stupidly.

“I know,” Azula says. “We’ll get out of here someday. Then you can have as many friends as you want.”

It’s something she’s been telling him since he was little. That they’ll get away from Ozai and he won’t be lonely anymore.

Zuko’s starting to lose hope.

He breaks down again and falls into Azula’s arms.

He’s not completely stupid. 

He knows he’s never getting out of here.

Zuko’s school morning is spent in a hungry haze. Ozai didn’t let him eat dinner and then knocked the box of cereal he tried to have for breakfast out of his hands. Azula snuck a granola bar out of the house and gave it to him on the bus but it didn't make much of a difference.

He’s quiet and basically unresponsive for the first four periods. Azula sits next to him in English, which makes Ty Lee confused.

“You aren’t sitting with us?” Ty Lee asks Azula. She’s standing by Azula’s desk and frowning slightly.

“I’m needed here today,” Azula says. “I’ll sit with you and Mai at lunch.”

Zuko rests his head on his arms and stares out the window. Ty Lee says something and then walks away but he doesn’t hear her.

He briefly wonders if he could ‘accidentally’ fall out the window.

There’s a knock on his locker door and he just sighs. He shuts his door and finds Sokka grinning at him. His face falls immediately when he sees the bruise Azula tried to cover up with a concealer on his jaw.

“Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?” He asks. Zuko wishes he could feel angry at that comment but all he feels is tired and hungry. He just wants to crawl into bed and never come out again.

“Yeah,” he lies and adjusts his books. “I tripped on my stairs, it’s nothing.”

Sokka frowns and looks him up and down. “Do you need a hug? You’ve looked depressed all day.”

Zuko shakes his head. “I’m okay,” he says through his teeth.

“Okay,” Sokka says quietly. “Want to come eat lunch with us? We had fun with you yesterday.”

Zuko’s heart picks up a little bit. Ozai would never find out he did this. And it sounds better than sitting silently in a corner trying not to cry. “Y-Yeah,” he says. “I’d like that.”

Sokka smiles and leads him down the hall. “I just want to make sure about this, is it just a bad depression day? Suki gets days like that sometimes.”

“Something like that,” Zuko says. Sokka nods.

“I get it, it’s alright.”

“Zuko! You’re sitting with us!” Aang says happily and Zuko actually smiles for the first time in almost a whole day. 

“Hi, Aang,” he says and sits down beside Sokka.

“Do you not have a lunch?” Katara asks. Zuko wrings his hands together under the table.

“Um, no. I...I forgot it. Azula and I were running late,” he says.

“Here,” Aang says and tosses a Ziploc bag with a sandwich in it in front of Zuko. “My foster dad and I are still getting used to each other and he forgot I’m allergic to strawberries. It’s a PB&J.”

“Then...what will you eat?” Zuko asks. Aang holds up a grape jelly Uncrustable from the food line behind him.

“Don’t worry about me,” Aang says. “Just eat the sandwich.”

Zuko pulls the bag closer and then another one lands on his hand. He looks up and Katara points at Toph with her thumb. It’s a bag of crackers.

“I’m not that hungry. Have some crackers,” Toph says. Zuko smiles again and takes the sandwich out of the bag.

“Thank you, guys,” he says softly.

“What are friends for?” Katara says and hands him a thing of fruit snacks.

Zuko swallows the lump in his throat and takes the snacks.

Aang exchanges a glance with Suki and then smiles. “Hey, Zuko. Want to hear about that time Sokka got a fish hook in his thumb?”

“Aang, I swear to God!” Sokka half-shouts. Zuko giggles and nods.

“Hell yes,” he laughs. Sokka whirls on him and gapes.

“The betrayal!”

“I’m sad! I need a laugh!” Zuko says.

“Aang, you better cheer up my fellow blind-ish friend!” Toph demands loudly.

Zuko laughs again and then Katara’s arms wrap around him in a soft hug.

“We’ve got you,” she murmurs. “We’ll cheer you up.”

Zuko holds her back and wishes he could keep them.

He won’t be able to, but he will hold onto them for as long as he can.

**Author's Note:**

> I have about two more parts planned but if there's anything you wanna see let me know!   
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
